J.J. McCarthy crashes motorized cart into Kevin O’Connell’s office
EAGAN, Minn. (FOX 9) - The Minnesota Vikings open the regular season on Sunday at the New York Giants, and it marks the debut of Sam Darnold.
We won’t see J.J. McCarthy on the field at all this season, but Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell shared a comical nugget about the rookie quarterback on Tuesday. O’Connell joined KFAN Radio’s Paul Allen to talk about his progress since suffering torn meniscus in his right knee in the first preseason game.
McCarthy is using a motorized cart to get around TCO Performance Center. O’Connell says he crashed it in his office on Monday.
What it means
It means absolutely nothing as far as his health. If it were even remotely possible McCarthy injured himself in his head coach’s office, O’Connell wouldn’t have offered that up on public radio. He did say that McCarthy is locking in on the mental side of football, since he’s limited physically in what he can do.
One preseason glimpse
McCarthy’s only significant live action on the field came in the first preseason game against the Las Vegas Raiders at U.S. Bank Stadium. It gave us a glimpse at what the future might look like for the Vikings at quarterback. After an early interception, McCarthy finished 11-of-17 for 188 yards and two touchdowns.
He hit Trishton Jackson in stride for a 45-yard touchdown, then connected with Trent Sherfield for a score from 33 yards out. The next day, he told team trainers his knee felt sore. An MRI revealed he had a torn meniscus. We don’t know that it was ever in the cards for McCarthy to play this season anyway, but a complete repair ended his rookie year and gave one more thing for Vikings’ fans to be depressed about.
The future
It’s pretty clear that with the Vikings moving up in the NFL Draft to take McCarthy No. 10 overall, they fully intend for McCarthy to be the starter in 2025. It’s up to Darnold to lead the offense this year, and if things go well, he could set himself up for a future contract like Baker Mayfield did last season.